Blue Eyes and Golden Dust
by Kingyama
Summary: Aomine goes camping with Momoi at the "Mythical Gardens", but what will he do when he sees someone, or something, that takes his breath away? Or the "it's obvious that you haven't met any elves before because you literally cannot stop staring at my ears—you can go ahead and touch them if you want, just watch out if they try to flick your hand away." AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:: I haven't wrote for KNB in YEARS... I'm a little rusty uwu. I'm cross-posting this from Ellhxii on AO3(My other account). **

**I hope you all enjoy and thank you so much for reading 3.**

* * *

"Oi, Satsuki, you really believe in this stuff?"

There was a long pause, small pink lips pursed into a thin line. Momoi glanced to the side with a look of annoyance on her face, as if slightly regretting asking Aomine to tag along. But she knew his little secret, hell—she's known him since before she can remember.

"Yes, Dai-Chan I do. Don't you think it'll be fun? Spending a night out here… roasting marshmallows… maybe seeing some mythical creatures… some elves...?" A small smile grew on Momoi's lips as she teased Aomine with the idea of seeing elves. When they were young, Aomine and Momoi would read children's books about mythical creatures and kingdoms larger than their own country. Aomine would always go off on little rants about how amazing he thought elves were, and Momoi would just giggle and agree with him because she loved to see the little smile on his face as his eyes lit up and his cheeks grew puffy. Her thoughts were cut off when Aomine scoffed in her direction.

"It's just a tourist trap but, since you're paying I'm here." The tanned male smirked when Momoi rolled her eyes at his statement. For some unknown reason he had agreed to join her to spend a weekend at the Mythical Gardens, a secluded forest area in their small town that "supposedly" housed mythical and non human creatures. Just thinking about it made Aomine roll his eyes so far back into his head that they could pop out. He glanced out the window of the car they were in, Momoi driving at a constant speed of 65—much to his annoyance—and saw a sign stating that they were 40 miles away from the "#1 highest rated attraction in all of town". Momoi had contacted Aomine about a week prior, exclaiming how she wanted to go to the Mythical Gardens, and Aomine laughed for two solid minutes before finally realizing that it was—in fact—not a joke.

_"You wanna what?!" Aomine asked in disbelief, a spoon nestled in his fingers as he picked at his cereal. For some reason Momoi had the bright idea of calling him at the crack of dawn._

_"I know it sounds crazy, but I really wanna check it out! Even if we don't see any creatures, the forest is still really beautiful. There's flowers floating on a lake and vines of different colors and fireflies everywhere! It looks like something out of a video game!" Aomine could almost hear the pout on Momoi's lips, and he sighed helplessly before setting his spoon down, his appetite forgotten._

_"Who else is going?" He questioned._

_"Well I asked Tetsu-Kun and he said he would be busy, and Midorin already works there so he said there's no way he's—"_

_"I'm sorry WHAT? Midorima works there?"_

_"Yeah he's the front desk atten—" before Momoi could finish her sentence, Aomine had busted out in laughter again. He could not believe that out of all people, Midorima worked at a tourist trap._

_"Dai-Chan! This is serious! Please come with me." Momoi grumbled through the phone, and Aomine wiped the tears out of the corners of his eyes, slowly coming down from his laughter kick._

_"Ok, ok, I'll come. But you're paying. Those tickets are ridiculously expensive."_

If Aomine was honest with himself, he would tell Momoi that the actual reason he was here was to watch out for her, he didn't really care about the admission prices. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something were to happen to her while she was camping alone in the woods. But something else tugged at the pit of his stomach, a childhood restlessness that had him thinking maybe, just maybe,

_he might see an elf._

Time slowly drifted by as Aomine faded in and out of consciousness, the scenery around him a blur of colors as they drove past the various fields off the side of the highway. He had packed up a small book bag of toiletries and clothes, and he even bought two brand new sleeping bags and a tent for him and Momoi to sleep in. He had told Momoi that he already had them at home, but unbeknownst to him she knew that he had bought them brand new. It was the small things that he did that Momoi cherished, glad to be able to call him her best friend. Although Aomine would never say it out loud, Momoi knew how much he cared for her.

"So… what kind of creatures did you say live in these woods anyways?" The tanned male asked gruffly, scratching the side of neck as he stared out the car window.

"Elves, banshees, fairies…" Momoi listed off, and the more she did the more Aomine groaned until he finally planted his face into his hands.

"Momoi this stuff isn't real. Those creatures DON'T exist! This isn't some fairy tale book like when we were kids or some magical movie, this is real life. Where the only magical things that exist are bullet trains that can go 300 miles per hour and airplanes that weigh 7 tons but can still fly." Aomine tried to reason with her, bringing logic and thought into the conversation. However it failed, and Momoi just stuck her tongue out at him, opting to turn the radio up instead of listening to his banter.

"_Yo yo yo! What's up my people! You're listening to 109.5 jam! My names Hoseok and today we have a fire playlist for you! But first, in light of the 10th anniversary of Mythical Gardens, I would like my listeners to dial in and tell us if you've visited these gardens and what it was like! And at the end of this segment I'll pick one lucky caller to win a free 3 day weekend pass!_" The radio blared out as the guy named Hoseok started to explain how to call in to the station. Momoi's eyes grew intensely, and Aomine groaned for what seemed like the 94930th time that day.

"Alright! We got our first caller! Hello can you hear me?" Hoseok asked the caller, and there was slight static before a voice made its way through.

"_Hi yes! My names Michelle! I visited the gardens last weekend and it was so beautiful! I swear I heard a banshee scream in the middle of the night!_" As the caller started explaining her experience, Aomine zoned out, opting to count the cars passing by on the opposite side of the highway. It wasn't until a certain caller dialed in that his attention perked back towards the radio.

"_Yes hello. I went to the gardens yesterday and saw an elf. He was almost 7 feet tall.. with beautiful golden blond hair.. his eyes were golden too. I had gone out to pee at around 3am and I stumbled upon him after I had left the camping grounds. He wasn't scared of me though, he just looked at me with those golden eyes and I swear Hoseok I felt entranced! Suddenly someone made a loud noise somewhere and his ears twitched and then he ran off, quicker than light! I was so shocked I stayed in that same spot for what felt like the whole night!_" The caller spoke with such certainty that Aomine stared at the radio, hard, as if to try and see if this person was pulling everyone's leg.

Only crazy people would see an elf, right?

"_Wow! That's amazing! Thank you so much caller! Do you think Mythical creatures really exist Bobby?_" Hoseok had asked his co-star, who Aomine didn't even know was on the air with Hoseok until his generic name was spoken. "_Well Hoseok, I really don't know. If people are really saying they saw things out there, the government has some explaining to do!_" Bobby laughed at his own statement and had Hoseok joining along with him. "_Alright folks, I will be picking a winner after some few commercials and then we will start with our fire 50 top hit…_" Momoi reached over to turn the radio down, and glanced at Aomine with a hint of mischief in her eyes.

"They saw an _elf_, a beautiful golden haired _elf_." Momoi taunted, taking one hand off the steering wheel and poking Aomine in the side.

"Shut up, Satsuki!"

* * *

About 40 minutes later, Aomine and Momoi were pulling out the sleeping bags from the trunk in the Mythical Garden parking lot. The sun had already begun to set, the air mild and balmy as the glowing medallion in the sky hid behind the horizon filled with trees.

"Alright Dai-chan lets go get our tickets!" Momoi gently grabs Aomine's arm, beaming her signature smile at him. He wants to huff and puff and act nonchalant about being here, but honestly he's too tired to keep on resisting. So he nods, re-positions the book bag on his back, and walks with Momoi to the entrance of the building.

There's a purple carpet lining the bottom of the hardwood floor, the engraving of "Mythical Gardens" with some pretentious looking drawing of sparkles near the bottom. Aomine hears wind chimes above his head, and looks around him to see people dressed up in various costumes and outfits. The front desk was near the entrance, polished wood that contrasted lightly with the purple carpet lining the floor. Momoi gasps slightly, glancing around at the building in awe. Before she can say anything, a figure passes in front of both of them.

"Is that an…. elf cosplayer?..." Aomine whispered to Momoi in disbelief, said person in question walking by them with some handcrafted, mod podge pointy elf ears glued onto their human ones. Momoi just nodded, biting her lip so that she doesn't laugh and alert said cosplayer.

"This is so embarrassing." Aomine grits his teeth, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Momoi ignores him and drags him up to the counter where they're met with a smiling employee with raven black hair.

"Welcome to Mythical! My names Takao, how can I help you?" Said employee grins, his name tag slightly crooked on his dark purple work suit. Aomine doesn't look at him, instead opting to take in his surroundings. There's a TV hooked up to the wall that's playing an infomercial about toothpaste and the benefits of using extra whitening creams, and Aomine thinks about whether or not he forgot to bring toothpaste. "Alright, your three day weekend pass, you got the exclusive area, very nice for couples." Takao hands Momoi a slip of paper with her tickets and receipts on it, and he wiggles his eyebrows seductively. "Oh, no-" Momoi is about to correct the employee, until Aomine brings his attention back to the conversation and clicks his tongue.

"Mind your own business." Is all he says, before grabbing the tickets and walking away from the front desk. Takao stares in shock, and Momoi apologizes profusely before shouting out Aomine's name and following him. The tanned male follows the rest of the crowd, going through a set of double automatic sliding doors. The exit takes both of them outside where the air suddenly feels different from before. It's not as humid, and even though its hot, it's a dry hot, one that Aomine had grown used to over the long summers of playing basketball as a child for hours on end.

"Look Dai-chan! There's fences." Momoi points to the edges of their surroundings, the woods being gated off by a fence. Aomine squints, glancing through the trees and notices that the forest is surrounded by a tall—maybe 20 foot—high fence. "What the fuck.." he whispers out. Momoi seems to enjoy it, and comments on how it's to keep the experience surreal, as if you're in another "magical" world. "More like a prison." The blue haired male grunts. There's a stone pathway that leads to what looks like the beginning of the forest, and there's another employee in a dark purple suit near the entrance, checking the tickets and assigning people to their proper camping spots. It isn't until Aomine and Momoi gets closer that they realize who the employee is.

"Hello, can I see your tickets ple-" The employee grunts out, but chokes on his words when he sees Aomine and Momoi.

"Midorima!" Aomine had forgotten that Midorima worked here. He starts laughing almost uncontrollably, and opts to put a hand up to his mouth to stop his laughter.

"Shut up Aomine." Is all Midorima says before grabbing the tickets out of Momoi's hands. Aomine hasn't stopped laughing, and it isn't until Momoi slaps his arm that he finally calms down. "Why do you work here?" Aomine asks, eyes narrowing at Midorima's fingers as they rip up the receipt end of the ticket off. His fingers were taped up,

how odd.

"I need extra cash. And, I enjoy working with someone." Midorima pushes up his glasses before handing the tickets back to Momoi who grins softly at him. Aomine just rolls his eyes and waves his hand, dismissing whatever Midorima had to say.

"Your camping area is in zone D, here's a map to help you get there. There's stone paths leading up to the different zones, and in the center of the zones are the showers and bathing area. I trust that you read the rules and didn't bring any cell phones." Midorima recites the instructions to Momoi who nods after every sentence. Aomine had already begun to walk down the path, completely oblivious to what was going on behind him. "Thanks Midorin." Momoi smiles at Midorima, who gives her a small smile in return and hands her the map for the forest.

"I'll tell Dai-chan to forget he ever saw you here." She says before she chuckles, and Midorima opens his mouth to reply before shutting it.

He only nods as Momoi waves goodbye and follows Aomine down the path.

"Dai-Chan where are you?" Momoi calls out, the crisp evening air blowing her pink locks out of place. She pouts as she tries to fix her hair, and glances at the two paths before her.

A voice behind her suddenly makes her jump.

"Yo, babe, what are you doing here by yourself?" The voice is slurred and gravelly—nasty.

She flinches, and slowly turns around to see a tall, drunken male with orange hair grinning down at her. "You're pretty… and look at that rack, wow."

"Uhm… Do I know you?"

"No… but let's not be strangers." The orange haired male reaches down to push one of Momoi's bright pink bangs back out of her face and behind her ear. She flinches at the contact and is about to slap his hand away when an even deeper—and very familiar—voice surprises her.

"Oi. Who the fuck are you?" Aomine stalks up from a cobble path, the glare in his eyes solid as stone. He marches over to Momoi and pulls her by his side, the drunken stranger stuttering on his words as his brain tries to make a coherent sentence.

Whether it's from the alcohol or just being scared, Aomine can't really tell.

Orange hair moves in the wind as the stranger accesses the situation and decides—very smartly—that there's no way he can win this battle, and flees down one of the stone paths.

"Stay away from her!" Aomine barks, before grabbing a hold of Momoi's arm.

Momoi looks up and leans into Aomine's touch.

"Thanks Dai-Chan." She offers him a small smile which he returns, before grunting and putting his manly bravado back on.

"Don't be running off by yourself!"

She pouts. "Hey! You're the one who walked away first!"

* * *

Momoi had to explain to Aomine how to get to their camping grounds, three wrong turns and two potty stops later: they had finally made it. The map was confusing as hell—in Aomine's opinion—leading off to different routes that webbed in and out of each other. Momoi had explained that there's four different levels of the forest, Zone A, B, C, and D(which was the one she had bought). Apparently, D was the deepest—Aomine made a pervy pun and Momoi ended up hitting him in the head with the map—into the forest, Zone A and B near the outskirts.

"I bought it because they say the deeper you get into the forest the higher chance of seeing something." She goes on to explain how the rest of the forest is cut off by more fences, and the tall male comments yet again how it feels more like a prison than a "magical escape".

"They offer fun games in the morning and evening, it's basically like summer camp for three days with random people and fantasy at night!" Pink hair jumped up and down,

Momoi was extremely excited.

"Mmm" Aomine offers a grunt, sticking his pinky finger into his ear. He opens his mouth finally.

"They got teriyaki burgers here?"

"Dai-chan…" She scoffs.

They find a quiet spot in the Zone D section, away from the glances of strangers and a couple with oddly colored hair, similar to their own. They were a long walk away from the communal showers and bathrooms, but Momoi didn't mind. She'd take the distance for some peace and quiet. Aomine starts setting up the tent, following the rules from the instruction sheet.

He sighs. "Stick A into C… move rod D above rod E so that rod B and rod C connect…what?"

There's a clicking sound from Aomine's frustration of trying to put two poles together, and it fades from Momoi's ears as she takes in the scenery around her. She wonders how Aomine doesn't comment on it, because to her it's absolutely

beautiful.

The forest had a blue tint to it, and Momoi doesn't know if its due to the sun having been set, the bright stars in the sky reflecting off the glistening fireflies that rest around them. There's a lake a couple yards away from them—Aomine had stumbled upon it after they had gotten lost for the third time—and it surprisingly wasn't closed off. The water was a bright crystal blue, almost the shade of her lover's hair,

icy, stunning.

There's a faint sound of crickets buzzing around, the grass lightly blowing in the night breeze. The temperature had dropped a little, Momoi had to zip up her green jacket. The trees around them seem almost life like, the amount of fireflies glowing causing shivers to run down her spine. It was a mix of bright yellow and orange to dark green and blue. "Do you see how beautiful it is Dai-chan?" Momoi breaths out, the skin on her neck and arms getting goosebumps. She turns around to see Aomine already sitting on his ass, the tent set up in an odd way. It was slightly crooked, but she knew asking him to try and fix it would be futile.

"Yeah yeah it's great, I'm hungry." He dismisses her question, resting his two hands behind his head as he laid on top of his sleeping bag that was—amusingly—not even inside the tent.

"Then go get your own food!" A map came flying at Aomine's face, bouncing off of his nose before hitting the ground. He narrows his eyes at her, and she only sneers.

She knows it's not a real threat.

"Fine, fine." The tan male placated, picking up the map before standing back up on his feet. He folds it open to try and find where the food could be located, and his childhood friend giggles when it takes him a minute to realize that the map is, indeed, upside-down.

"It's down that path, to the right. It's only a vending machine though, the real food is tomorrow morning at 8am. The schedule is on the other side of the map as well. There's botanical history and other fun activities tomorrow."

He throws the map back in Momoi's direction.

"I don't need it. I'll be back. Don't wander off or I'll have to save you again." As Momoi protests behind him, Aomine stuffs his hands into his pockets and walks down the path she had pointed to earlier. He had a feeling that it would be a long weekend, but sucked it up because he knew Momoi was really excited. The tanned male finally got the chance to look around.

He whistled low,

it really was beautiful.

The crickets chirped around him, giving the atmosphere a quiet, almost calm like state. He heard some people laughing off in the distance bright orange light coming from their direction. Smoke filling his nostrils as he walked by.

Are they allowed to start fires?

Once the low light of the vending machine came into his view, Aomine's stomach immediately grumbled at the sight. He walked up to it, noticing the small building it was attached to. There was a warning sign about electricity, and Aomine couldn't help but wonder if it was a building for employees only. Tan hands stuff a 100 yen bill into the machine from his back pocket, and the machine whirls to life as Aomine ponders on what to pick. He settles on some blueberry ice cream, a beeping sound coming from the vending slot to indicate his successful purchase as it chucks his ice cream to the bottom. He reaches down to pick it up, and as soon as his hands touch the packaging he hears a shriek coming from behind him.

Instinctively, he turns around with his fists up, ready to strike at whatever had startled him so bad. However when he sees the sight of—no one—he shakes his head.

He's immediately reminded of Momoi's words and the radio station in the car earlier that day.

"I swear I heard a banshee scream in the middle of the night!"

"Elves, banshees, fairies…"

"No way" He grunts out, as if speaking the words out loud would make them more true. He shakes his head, again.

"Probably just some stupid kid…"

…

For some reason he can't shake the feeling that the shriek sounded eerie,

non-human.

He picks at his ice cream, discarding the wrapper in the recycle bin next to the vending machine, he's about to head back to Momoi when he stops in his tracks.

"Shit." He clicks his tongue.

He had forgotten which path to take.

"And I can't even call Momoi for help because this stupid place made us leave our cellphones. No pictures allowed my ass."

He lets out a disgruntled sigh, looking at the three cobblestone routes in front of him. One to his left, one in the middle and one to his right. He's surprised that he can't even remember which way he had come.

"I hate this." He picks the left path, his step heavier than usual due to the amount of frustration he had boiling in his chest. The air feels different—smells different—thick with mist. He nibbles at the frozen treat, the ice cream melting at an awkwardly slow pace due to the drop in temperature at night. As he walks down the route, he ignores the obvious signs that it is in fact not the original way he came. The group of people yelling earlier not even within earshot now. It isn't until Aomine looks up that he sees it.

"A.. hot spring?" The words roll off his tongue slowly, and he blinks a couple times, making sure that he isn't going crazy and that there is definitely a hot spring in front of him.

He doesn't remember there being a marker for it on the map.

But then again, he didn't really look at the map. He wouldn't be in this predicament if he had looked at the map.

His gaze moved slow, from one end to the other, trying to assess the current situation. There's trees lining the edges of the spring, one particular huge tree nestling itself in the middle. It's branches are thick and wide, wrapping around themselves before spreading out to reach the sky. It's leaves were thick, an unnatural blue, covering the top of the tree in a dense canopy. There's a hole near the center of the tree that's growing a bright orange, and it takes Aomine a minute to realize that it's an orb of fireflies.

He thinks it looks like something out of a video game.

Pondering over what to do next—the smart choice being to leave, go back to Momoi—Aomine sits down on the dirt, his hands coming to touch the ground. It's soft and palpable between his fingers, but not wet enough to be considered mud. "A little dip won't hurt anyone…" he considers as he takes off his shoes—brand new Air Jordan's might he add—and stuffs his standard black socks inside of them.

He never really was one to wear flashy clothing.

Tan hands put down the popsicle stick next to his shoes, and he slightly pouts when he notices the kanji written on the end.

Loser.

"Whatever." He scoots closer to the edge, dirt slightly clinging to the bottom of his sweats. He decides to pull up the legs of his sweatpants so they don't get wet. The water is steaming slowly, and Aomine wastes no time in sticking his feet in, an elongated sigh escaping from his lips. He stops when the water reaches his knees, and notices how the hot spring is much deeper than he originally thought. It doesn't take long for him to succumb to the relaxation the bubbling water gives him, and he leans back on the palms of his hands and closes his eyes.

"5 more minutes won't hurt…" the soft buzz of crickets filled his ears, and it sounds like sweet white noise for the tan male. He hums to himself, singing a song that Momoi had told him she liked. He liked it too, a lot, but she would never know that.

There's a quick snap of a branch that sounds way too loud and way too close for Aomine to comfortably ignore, so he cracks open his right eye, nonchalantly looking at the edges of the hot spring. There's a slight movement behind a tree, and Aomine could've sworn he saw bright blond—almost golden—hair retreating deeper into the forest.

"Huh?!" He squeaks out loud, opening both of his eyes now, his senses fully alert. He glares at the same area behind the tree, and he thinks he's crazy when he sees a soft glow of gold settling there, before it completely vanishes into nothing, the area around the tree returning to a dark forest green. "W-what…" He's trying to piece together things in his mind, trying to come to a conclusion on his own.

His mind is betraying him,

because he only thinks one thought.

"He was almost 7 feet tall.. with beautiful golden blond hair.. his eyes were golden too."

"No, no, no way." Aomine scrambles to put his shoes and socks back on, leaving his loser popsicle stick on the dirt.

If Aomine had stayed a few minutes longer, he would've saw a tall figure out in the open, a slender hand reach down to pick up the popsicle stick,

and golden dust left in his wake.

* * *

When the tan male had returned to Momoi(honestly he was surprised he was able to find his way back), he notices her asleep inside the poorly constructed tent he had made. The tent was huge, more than enough space for them to comfortably sleep next to each other. Aomine reaches into his backpack and pulls out his toothpaste(so he did remember to bring it), along with his toothbrush to get ready for bed.

"_Was that.._" He thinks.

He hears an owl hoot in the distance, the night air feels crisp against his skin. Tan hands take out a small water bottle so he can rinse his mouth after he finishes brushing, and he gurgles before spitting into a bush nearby.

"_No… it couldn't be._" He thinks.

He leaves his shoes outside of the tent, crawls into the decently sized space, and perks up when he notices Momoi roll over and open her eyes.

"_But I saw light… golden light._" He thinks.

"I got lost." Is all he says. She laughs while nodding and rolls back over the opposite way before whispering goodnight.

"_Maybe it was someone else just taking a piss and I scared them off._" He thinks.

Once Aomine has crawled into his sleeping bag, dark blue with the price tag still attached to the side, he stares at the top of the tent.

"_Or maybe…_" He thinks.

He can't get over what he saw.

It takes him a long time to fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes:: To the two people that followed and the one that favorite'd, thank you! And to the lovely Anon that commented, you made my day. Thank you for your patience on this next chapter, I hope I did not disappoint!**

* * *

There's a soft flutter, a pitter-patter against Aomine's ears. It ruffles him out of his sleep. He prays to god that it better not be Satsuki because she _knows_ how cranky he gets when something wakes him up—rather than being woken up naturally. He slowly opens his eyes to see the area around him vacant, Momoi's sleeping bag lay empty beside him. Thank god, because she knows better.

"Hngg.." he groans, ruffling his hands through his hair before sitting up. His breath stinks. His armpits stink.

This _stinks._

He starts to think about why he agreed to this. Why on god's green earth he decided to come here. If only he had forced Kuroko to join Momoi instead, then he could be cuddled up in his warm blankets, on his warm bed, in his warm room.

But alas, he didn't force the small quiet boy so instead of being in a wonderful slumber back in the comfort of his own home, he's here, in the woods, on the _ground_, with bad breath and musty armpits and dammit,

this _stinks_.

"Satsuki?" He calls out through exhaustion, battling the sleep behind his eyes. He kneels up to zip open the tent flap when he doesn't get a response, and he's immediately blinded by the suns rays.

He's always hated the morning sun.

Aomine finds the perpetrator for waking him up, noticing the minuscule dew drops resting on small flowers and feeling the droplets of water fall on his head. It's drizzling slightly, the faint smell of wet grass and dew fill his nostrils. The forest looks almost completely different now, the surrounding thick foliage holding no glimmering blue light like last night, only dark green vines, thick, almost disgustingly so. "Satsuki?!" Aomine's voice grows higher this time, slightly laced with worry. He notices her small sandals are gone, along with her soft pastel backpack. He's slightly annoyed that he's been left alone, but brushes it off as concern fills his mind instead.

The tanned male stretches, making use of his muscles to try and relax. He cracks his knuckles and neck before rolling his shoulders back. He's always been sore the morning after a game, his muscles aching for some type of relaxation. He didn't think he'd be this sore just from sleeping on the fucking _ground_. It isn't until he yawns that he can smell the absolute garbage that is his breath.

"Ew."

He reaches for his backpack to brush his teeth, slightly damp from the morning rain, but is distracted by a movement in the corner of his vision. He immediately thinks it's Satsuki, and opens his mouth to call out to her.

But it's not her. It's not_ anybody_, just golden dust slowly glittering in the sunlight behind a thick line of trees.

Last night's events instantly come back to him. He scowls at no one, confusion and anger creasing the lines on his forehead. He whispers a swear, and curiosity gets the best of him as he finds himself slowly walking towards the dust. It flicks and whines, reflects the same energy as the sun.

Aomine doesn't find it blinding.

His feet sink into the ground, dirt and mud caressing his toes. It's oddly comforting, the morning heat, the humidity from the dew, the cooling state of the mud. Aomine reaches a tanned hand out, perplexed by the golden flecks.

"What the fuck…"

A handful falls onto his palm, floating down wistfully before landing silently on tan skin. It shocks him, but it doesn't hurt, only encourages him to want to reach out more. He's almost completely off of the campsite, burying his body behind the long line of trees. He lifts his foot up to follow the flecks further, finding more golden dust the deeper into the forest he goes. Flexing his tan fingers, Aomine observes the way the golden dust seems to…

_melt_ into his skin, and he's so shocked by this revelation that he opens his mouth to protest, to scream, to do _something_, but nothing comes out.

His throat tightens up, and he-

"Dai-Chan I'm back! What are you doing?!" Momoi's sweet voice snaps him back into reality, and he blushes and quickly jerks his head back towards the camp site. He wears a face that looks like he just got caught doing something he _wasn't supposed to do_, and when he recognizes this he scoffs before putting on a scowl because,

elves can't exist, it's not possible.

"I thought I saw something." There's a silence that fills the space between them, the plastic bag in Momoi's hands crinkling as she shifts her weight on her other foot. She opens her mouth to question him again, but he talks over her to change the subject. "What's that?" A tan finger points at the bag, annoyance filling his throat.

"Food." Momoi throws the bag to Aomine, her voice deadpanned. He catches it with ease—of course—and peaks inside to scan the contents.

"I went to the dining hall, I knew you would be hungry. Activities start soon, you should wash up." She explains as Aomine looks over the items. He sees two water bottles, what looks like several pork buns, and two small onigiri, wrapped in… _purple seaweed_? The tan male looks up to thank his childhood friend, but she's already heading back into the tent. His eyebrows furrow in confusion. _She must be mad at me, _he thinks, and he trots behind her and dips into the tent, the flap awkwardly getting stuck because the zipper couldn't close all the way and wow, when did he buy such cheap shit?

"Satsuki…" there's something about the way Momoi gets mad, how her cheeks puff out and her lips form a pout but somehow it looks _scary_. Aomine's treading on thin water, one more wrong move and he could drown. "I know you don't want to be here, but can you at least pretend?" A slight tingle of disappointment is mixed in to those words, and the glossy eyes and quivering voice doesn't distract Aomine from how frustrated she sounds at the same time. He timidly sits down, the plastic bag being the only noise that fills the tent. It's as if it mocks Aomine.

"I'm not good with words..." The words spill out of his throat, past his lips and into the air, a little too chalky for his liking. Momoi notices this and offers a timid smile, the gloss on her lips catching the light filtering through the tent. He's realized that all he's done is complain while he's been here. Complain about the forest, the lack of food, the weather, the _tent_. Calloused fingers wrap around small milky ones, and Momoi's frustrated demeanor seems to melt at the touch. She can tell that Aomine is trying to tell her without speaking, trying to show her that he _appreciates_ her. Her grin gets wider, "remember when you called me ugly?" Although a painful memory at the time, she recalls it with such fondness that she's giggling. The look on Aomine's face goes from shocked to frustrated to pouting and he rebuttals her giggles with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, and you called me a _ganguro_, of all things." Momoi laughs, the airiness of her voice sounding like music to Aomine's ears. He wants to be annoyed but can't, and instead changes the subject to not admit that he's always enjoyed the sound of Momoi's laugh.

"What time is it anyways?" The question drags Momoi out of her laughing fit, only causing her to shrug her shoulders and dig into the plastic bag—fishing out a pork bun from the half-a-dozen other ones she had bought. Aomine questions her again verbally, which only causes her to reply in a scowl as she starts to eat. "I don't know, _Dai-Chan._ It's called the wonders of camping. Let time be unknown." Momoi drags out the last word which has Aomine rolling his eyes. He would _love_ to check his phone and answer his own question but no, he just had to keep it in the stupid car because 'rules are rules and I want to have a full experience'. The tall man decides to stop questioning her when his stomach grumbles, resulting in him reaching into the bag and eating the remainder of the pork buns(no wonder Momoi bought so many). The eat in silence, apart from the cicadas and birds chirping outside, the ambient forest noise drawing Aomine closer to sleep.

Once he's guzzled down his water and finished his food, Momoi lectures him on the events that were planned today. There's fishing in the morning, at what exact time Aomine doesn't know because he doesn't have his phone, lunch and a picnic in the afternoon, hiking in the evening, followed by dinner at the main lodge close to the entrance. Of course Aomine isn't interested in any of it, but the pout on Momoi's face makes him uneasy, so he brushes his teeth, washes his face and changes into some decent clothes.

The sun shines brightly in the center of the sky, so Aomine can almost assume that it's near to being noon. The heat bothers him slightly, something that he never got used to from playing street ball in the sun. Always neglecting to bring sunscreen, always enjoying the game more than his own health. Momoi saunters up next to him. She's wearing a bright pink skirt with a nice white blouse, certainly not clothes you wear when you're in the _forest,_ but Aomine doesn't question it and instead goes to throw his backpack over his shoulder. They slip on his socks and shoes, and head off to the center of the festivities.

* * *

Aomine decides immediately upon entering the main plaza of the establishment that he's going to hate this. There's a huge gazebo with picnic tables sitting in the middle of the forest opening, a circular area where all of the paths from different zone's merge into one. The gazebo is lined with rows of purple tarp, and the picnic tables are adorned with food. Aomine drifts past all the other camp goers—all the other losers who believed in mythical beings—and heads over to the food. He stands over the large, sleek table, studying the busily constructed salads at each place setting—salads, which, with their knobs of cheese, jutting chives and little pieces of lettuce, resemble small Easter hats.

"Do we wear these or eat them?" asks Aomine. Momoi pouts at his statement and a male in uniform, the same one standing at the front desk earlier, saunders up to him with a grin on his face.

"What kind of establishment would we be if we didn't look presentable?" He smiles at Aomine, who glances around before realizing that the employee was talking to _him_. The tan males scoffs and continues about his business, walking around and inspecting each salad as if they weren't edible. "Ignore him," Momoi offers a smile to the employee, "Takao right? It's nice to see you again. I'm Momoi Satsuki!" Said employee seems to brighten up immediately, "Momoi-san! So you're the one Shin-chan has been talking about." The sweetness in his voice catches Momoi by surprise, "Midorin? He told you about us?" Momoi watches out of the corner of her eye as Aomine takes a seat at one of the benches, the rest of the camp goers doing the same. She notices a clock attached to the side of the gazebo, small and round and very visibly indicating the time of noon.

"Yeah, he said someone 'annoying but familiar' was here, then he said you were here too." Takao winks at her, the heat in the air cooling as the sun slides behind a gray cloud. Momoi smiles, opening her mouth to respond about how that's _totally something Midorima would say_, before the man himself comes up behind Takao. "Talking about people behind their back again, Takao?" A huff of green hair stands behind Takao, the shorter of the two visibly flinching as a response.

"Now now Shin-chan, I was just introducing myself to Momoi."

"We have rounds, to make sure the people who signed up for the events are actually here, _remember_?" Midorima pushes up his glasses with his tape-covered fingers, a nervous chuckle escaping Takao's lips before the taller male drags him off by his suit collar, the redness of his face visible until they disappear behind the automatic doors of the main building.

Momoi saunters over to Aomine and sits down next to him. She watches as he picks at his salad, his stomach still full from the meal they had had earlier in the tent. Aomine looks over at her, "these taste like shit, no wonder they looked like Easter hats."

"Very funny. Midorin was here a few minutes ago, did you see?"

"No. I was too busy watching that jackass." Aomine jerks his head in the direction of the drunken guy with orange hair from yesterday who tried to flirt with Momoi. He's circumvented by a group of friends and something in Aomine's stomach tells him that that's the same group with the campfire from the night before—when he got lost.

The orange haired man and his friends laugh disgustingly, throwing their food around, cheese and lettuce landing all over the place. Momoi's voice contorts in disgust and Aomine's ready to pop a vein. Before Aomine can get up and proudly thrust his knee into the guys stomach, one of the employees yells out to hush the crowd. Fellow campers quiet down and look ahead, the employee standing proudly in their purple suit.

"Enjoy your lunch everyone. We'll be going on a hiking trip in about an hour. If you signed up please stand by Takao to get checked on the list. If you'd like to leave or head back to your camping site please stand in front of me." Orders are belched out as everyone around Aomine starts talking again, people getting up and moseying about. "I'll go check us in, sit tight." Momoi pats her childhood friend's shoulder as she gets up to leave. Although there's a lot to be distracted by, thanks to the drunken orange haired man, Aomine can only think of one thing.

_Golden dust_..

He wonders what he would have done if Momoi hadn't shown up, if he continued to let himself get mesmerized by the seemingly magical golden flakes. If he continued to walk deeper into the first… to follow the path… to… to..

Trying to drag himself out of his own thoughts, Aomine stands up and searches for pink hair in the crowd. He makes a mental note about the kinds of people he sees. Families with kids, teenage couples, school groups. He finds it odd but interesting how popular a _tourist trap_ could be—because at this point Aomine believes that they _had _to be messing with him. Momoi had to have been in on it, had to be the one who suggested fake banshee screaming, had to be the one to buy fake gold glitter flecks and probably had Midorima's help setting this whole thing up and—

"Here Dai-chan, take this." Momoi startles the tanned male out of his thoughts as she sneaks up next to him, handing Aomine a golden-yellow cloth, a similar one tied around her wrist. Aomine doesn't ignore it's specific color. "It's authentication for those who signed up for the events." It takes him a moment to respond, but the taller male just nods as Momoi wraps her fingers around his wrist, tying it for him. Takao is checking people in with his purple clipboard—Aomine believes he'll never enjoy the color purple anymore—and Midorima is directing orders from across the courtyard, other employees nodding and walking off into various directions.

The sun slowly starts to get brighter, the morning rain clouds disappearing off into the horizon, leaving only clear skies and the sounds of birds chirping. The day seems to go by without a hitch, Midorima and Takao lead the group of hikers through a path that's so far off from being a "hiking trail" that a child could run down it blindfolded. Aomine catches glimpses of what he thinks is a longing look in Midorima's eyes when he lingers on Takao's lips. He doesn't want to intrude, but a smirk finds its way onto his own. Back in high school, Midorima had called Aomine one fateful weekend to tell him he had been gay. Aomine knew all along, seeing as he was one himself, but the revelation seemed to be more shocking to Midorima than Aomine. Since they weren't that close, the tanned male was surprised when he got that phone call, but didn't treat it any differently.

The rest of the day goes smoothly, hours pass by and Momoi's feet start to hurt. It isn't until Aomine carries her on his back, her chin resting on his right shoulder, that the other campers give them questionable looks.

When the events of the day are finished and Aomine is very _very_ hungry, Midorima leads the group to the "gift shop", which is coincidentally located right near the main lodge where they're all supposed to have dinner. The sun dances behind the tall tree limbs, before it hides completely behind the towering encompassing 20 foot fences—Aomine had been glaring at them all day.

The gift shop greets Aomine with a gust of air conditioning, the breeze blowing his already short strands of dark blue hair around his face. Momoi's eyes brighten up at the sight of stuffed animals, key chains, posters, and t-shirts of various mythical creatures adorning the inside of the building. There's little fairies, cyclops, and banshee stuffed animals on one shelf.

Aomine feels like he's gonna barf.

Midorima stands near the automatic doors, watching from behind his glasses how Takao's smile brightens up when a camper tells him a joke, or how he always seems to catch the slightest glimpse of Takao staring at him too, then looking away quickly with a hint of blush on his milky cheeks.

"You should tell him." Aomine stands next to Midorima, hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped and mouth small because he knows deep down in his bones that if he told Momoi he'd rather be anywhere else on the _planet_ than here she'd say fine and drive him off into the desert and leave him there.

"How did you—"

"Cut the crap, Midorima. We've known each other for how long? I can see it in your face…", Aomine nods in Takao's direction, "and his too. Tell him." Silence engulfs the two as they watch people shop around, buying various accessories and toys. Aomine doesn't even bother to look and see what Momoi has in her hands, no doubt it's something big and annoying and unnecessary.

After a long pause, Midorima finally speaks up. "I'm afraid." The statement comes out as just that, a statement, but there's a hint of hopelessness in it that doesn't mix well with Midorima's voice. "I've never known you to be afraid of anything. Only to do everything humanly possible… and not asking him out or at least _telling him_, is not everything." As the words spill out past his lips, Aomine's tone gets softer and softer, the edges of his mouth smoothing out and his eyebrows relaxing. The green haired male seems to harbor the slightest of smiles, and nods before taking his leave, going around to ask the customers if they needed help. As soon as he walks away Aomine goes to find Momoi, who's still browsing the various sections.

"Look, Dai-Chan! It's that golden haired elf from the radio! I asked Takao-Kun about it and he said it's the rarest of their creatures! Apparently he only comes out at night but you can see his gold dust anywhere." Momoi shoves a bright golden plush doll in his face, golden eyes staring straight into Aomine's soul. Instinctively, the tanned male swats at Momoi's hands to get the plush doll out of his face. "Satsuki no, we're not buying that." He scowls in her direction as she clings the stuffed doll to her chest. Aomine feels like four eyes are staring at him, two light pink ones and two very disturbing golden ones.

The plush doll is only 10 inches tall, with chubby arms and legs and a cute "elf-esque" looking outfit on. It's adorned with golden charms and matching golden hair.

The eyes however shine with glitter, little specks hidden within the plastic that make up the iris'. Aomine stares for a moment before stuttering out no again. Momoi huffs ya his response and stuffs the doll between her arm and the side of her body. "You're right, we're not buying it. _I_ am." Before the taller male can protest, pink hair is stomping away to the counter to buy said toy.

Aomine just sighs and ruffles his hand through his messed up locks, he feels dirty and grimy and in need of a shower. After some more minor arguing about the toy, the two make their way with the rest of their group to the huge main lodge. The building reminds Aomine of the fancy lodges Akashi always talked about owning with his fancy parent's money. There's a whole line of food on the right side of the lodge, various dishes from multiple cultures filling the lodge with a mixture of aromas. Campers are hustling about, filling their plates up with excitement. Filing into the line for the food, Aomine overhears two teenage girls talking about that damned golden elf again and he's just about ready to rip his hair out.

The girls talk back and forth, one with obnoxiously big fake eyelashes and one with a small gap in her two front teeth that it makes her look like a little chipmunk. The girl with the eyelashes leans over to her friend, "they say if you see golden dust, it means he's watching you, and that he likes you!" This has the smaller girl blushing, the redness of her cheeks contrasting deeply with her significantly pale skin. Aomine suddenly finds himself slowing down through the food line just to continue being within earshot of their conversation.

"Oh man, I haven't seen anything. Maybe he doesn't like girls?" The shorter girl with the buck teeth says, scooping some with a sorrowful look on her face.

"Elf's are known to be pan-sexual… maybe he just doesn't like _you._" The taller friend teases, causing the shorter one to stammer, the blush on her cheeks growing. "Shut up Cindy!" Their friendly laughter slower gets muffled in Aomine's ears. The voices around him tune out, and he only thinks about one thing.

He's seen the golden dust, more than once, it's as if it follows him. He thinks about how it's possible, just maybe, _maybe… _

"Uhm, excuse me sir?" The familiar voice of the tall girl with fake eyelashes drags Aomine out of his thoughts, and he realizes that he's been standing in the same spot for a minute. The girl is trying to reach over him to grab some dinner rolls. "Oh… uh.." Aomine chokes out his words, shifting his feet to the side to awkwardly move himself.

Momoi has already found a table for them, adorned with an oversize purple linen sheet and golden trim. They eat in silence apart from a few words here and there, their stomachs growling from being empty since midday. Aomine comments on how there's definitely no teriyaki burgers here and he's "_so utterly disappointed Satsuki_", while Momoi ignores him and tries her best to enjoy her food.

After some time the dining hall starts to die down, only a few people still remain; eating their seconds and thirds of food. Aomine and his childhood friend gather their things—somehow Aomine got stuck carrying Momoi's plush toy in his bag.

The golden piece of fabric from earlier feels itchy on his wrist, reminding him that he needs to shower before returning to the campsite(and also reminding him of a specific elf). "I need a shower, like, really badly." Aomine teases, bringing his armpit close to Momoi's nose. She giggles and swats him away because _yuck_, boy musk. After a couple more minutes of constant teasing and playfulness, they exit the dining hall side by side. Aomine's more than ready to call it a day, and the sky agrees with him as it hums in darkness, dots of light blue twinkling to indicate the dark of night. He hears an owl in the distance, feels the night breeze nip at his neck and sleepiness suddenly nipping at his eyelids. After some confusing directions from Momoi, they make their way to the bathhouses down a stone path in one of the zones. The building looks a lot older than the others, some vines slowly making their way up to the top, water stains built up on the bricks that make up the foundation. Aomine's surprised that this building doesn't have any signs of purple. When they enter, the hall splits into two: the boys on the left and girls on the right.

"Here," Aomine hands over a pink towel and some shower supplies in his bag for Momoi, and she thanks him before tying her hair up into a ponytail. "It's wash day so, don't wait up on me." She points to her pink locks and the tanned male responds with a groan. He knows that that means she's going to be in there for _hours_, because wash day includes deep conditioning and hot oil treatments and purple conditioner and everything on the moon to keep her bright pink hair in tip-top shape. Momoi asks if Aomine knows how to get back to their campsite on his own, and he grunts out how he'll be able to figure it out eventually.

As Aomine walks into the shower rooms, he notices how empty it seems to feel. An eerie dripping sound of water is the only noise that fills the echoing room. Instead of feeling alarmed, he enjoys the solitude happily, picking a stall and closing the shower curtain behind him.

As much time as Momoi and Aomine have spent together, you would think that he would have a million skin care and hair products. But alas, he sticks with his famous 4-in-1 shower gel that serves as a face wash, body wash, shampoo and conditioner.

Yes, because he's a simple guy.

When he turns the hot water on he's met with pure bliss, his hair and face getting immediately soaked. He sighed out loud, feeling his shoulders pop as he rolled them back. It's been a minute since he's played basketball, the stress of college having him cooped up in his apartment, and he can tell his body is aching for some kind of mental push, for some kind of extreme push that'll have him laying in bed, sore for days.

Sometimes he missed high school.

20 minutes later, and Aomine feels like a squeaky clean baby. He exits the shower, opens up his bag and grabs his towel. Once he's finished drying himself off, he starts to put his infamous 4-in-1 bottle back in his bag and see's the stupid plush doll that Momoi made him carry.

"Stupid elf and your stupid golden dust. You're not real." Aomine spits at the toy, and feels as if its mocking him with it's golden glittery eyes. He feels himself grimace when he realizes he's talking to a _toy_, and immediately feels stupid.

After finding some clean sweats and a simple blue shirt, Aomine exits the shower, steam nestling itself on the huge mirror adjacent to the shower stalls. He's never really cared about appearances, so he doesn't bother to look at himself as he exits the shower hall. When he steps outside, the cold air seems to nip at his skin even more, making him aware of the dampness still lingering on his skin, in the crooks of his neck, behind his ears. There's still no one around, the woods vacant and bright, light blue and green filling the spaces between the trees. It's as if the woods transform, going from dark green to a beautiful neon blue, as if the change in time demands it.

Aomine would be lying if he said he knew which way to go, so he walks down the nearest path, hands stuffed in the pockets of his sweats, eyes half shut, humming to himself.

His bag bounces against his back, the hanging key chain on his zipper clicking as it bounces back and forth.

The trees start to bend in odd directions and the air feels tighter. He's about to turn around because he doesn't recognize the shape of the trees, or how they bend slightly over the path as if trying to engulf him. He wants to turn back because he knows this _can't_ be the right way,

but then he sees it,

the golden dust.

The breeze in the air passes by him, his hair getting tossed to the side, and in the breeze floats the golden dust. It sparkles and shines, twists through the air and lands on a bush. Aomine feels entranced again—just like he was this morning—and reaches down towards it. The tip of his middle finger touches the golden flecks, and he feels a small zap again, not enough to hurt but enough to be noticeable.

Aomine goes to stand back up, but is jerked down suddenly when his bag gets caught on a short branch in the bush. He hadn't realized it, but he never fully zipped up his backpack. The infamous stuffed toy that's been the center of his annoyance plops out, bouncing on the ground and rolling in the dirt a couple of feet away.

Aomine's first thought is _shit_, because Momoi is going to kill him for getting her souvenir dirty, but then he sees some more golden powder, watches as if filters into his vision and lands gently on top of the plush doll. He bends down on his knees to pick it up, but stops in his tracks.

He suddenly remembers the conversation from earlier with the teenage girls. _"They say if you see golden dust, it means he's watching you, and that he likes you!" _Aomine forms a frown, because fuck that, that's bullshit, it's all bullshit,

it's….

"Is that, _me_?" a foreign voice, thick with an accent, fills Aomine's ears in the most pleasant of ways. He freezes, see's a milky white hand, trim long fingernails, and even longer slender fingers reach down to grab at the doll. Aomine chokes, feels his heartbeat race up, feels the pulse of his own blood through his ears and he _knows_, he knows who's in front of him… or better yet,

_what_ is in front of him.

"N… no" His voice cracks, going from a deep pitch to an unbearably high one, his blood still rushing through his body, pumping from his heart and filling his brain and he feels like he's going to pass out and..

It isn't until the voice talks again, smooth and velvet that Aomine finally tilts his head up from the doll, follows the slender hand that's picked it up to the muscled arm to the shoulder covered in golden fabric. He sees a lengthy collarbone from under pearly skin. He stares without blinking, his mouth opening wide, jaw slack, eyes traveling up the golden neck towards a sharp jawline, beautifully shiny pink lips, a nose that could kill…

"No? Dude this is totally me!" The voice brightens up, still velvet in its specific way but cheery all the same. Aomine's pupils grow wide, his nostrils flare and he can only choke on his saliva.

"W-what?" He tries to get up, tries to get out of his kneeling position but his shoulders lock up and he feels his chest tighten and, the question barely comes out as a whisper.

There's _no way_ this is real. He has to be dreaming, maybe he fell asleep after his shower and now he's dreaming that he's seeing some beautifully white, glowing, golden _angel_.

Then he sees it, finally lays his eyes on it and he finds himself breathing heavily. He sees two, beautiful constructed, slender _ears,_ sharp and white and laying against the side of his golden hair. One of them has a small, silver earring in it and his fingers twitch slightly.

Breathtaking.

An elf.

_The elf._ _The _golden haired, highly talked about, extremely sought out,

_elf. _

Said elf smiles, not phased at all that the tanned male—who he thinks looks _delicious_ might he add—is there with his mouth open and eyes wide and in completely shock.

"I think this is yours." The elf whispers, extending his arm out to give Aomine the plush doll of _himself._

Aomine finally stands, the joints of his body cracking as he stretches them out, and his eyes stay in their solid, wide position as his hand involuntarily shakes. He grabs hold of the little stuffed fabric that makes up the plush's circle hand, and the elf's smile gets brighter.

"Hi."

* * *

**Notes:: Thank you for reading, reviews are always appreciated! I tried to make their meeting as "natural" as possible. I didn't want tit o be too sudden, but I also didn't want there to be 5 chapters of no Kise at all lol.**


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